JURORS AT the nine-month long Coroner's Inquest into the fatal shooting by the police of seven young men in Braeton, south St. Catherine in March last year, handed down a verdict yesterday, divided six to four, that no one was criminally responsible for their deaths.
The 10-member jury returned the verdict after deliberating for 45 minutes.
Coroner Lorna Errar-Gayle accepted the majority verdict in accordance with section 19 of the Coroner's Act. The section states in part that "the Coroner may accept the verdict of the majority and the majority shall, in that case, certify the verdict."
After the verdict was read by the foreman, lawyers representing both the families of the dead men, and the police, thanked the jurors and the Coroner for their patience during the nine-month hearing.
Dennis Daly, Q.C., who represented the family of one of the deceased, said he was "very disappointed with the verdict."
Richard Rowe, attorney-at-law for the family of another of the seven young men slain in Braeton, said he would consult with other lawyers and Coroner Lorna Errar-Gayle today in an attempt to have the inquest held again.
Mr. Rowe said that section 19(7) of the Coroner's Act states that when there were seven or more jurors, there has to be two or fewer who disagree, for the judge to accept the verdict. Yesterday's verdict was a "split decision", he said, and for that reason they would insist on a new inquest.
"When the jury fails to agree and if it comprises seven or more and the minority consists of not more than two, the coroner may accept the verdict of the majority," he said. "Thus the only verdicts which would have been accepted is 8-2 or 9-1. It's 6-4 now, twice the minimum that the law requires."
He said he would not accept things as they stood now and a re-start of the process was what should legally happen, and if it did not, he would press for it.
"When I spoke to jurors, there was concern that the jury might mot have had enough evidence to go on," he said. "They were a bit concerned."
The view was shared by Yvonne Sobers, Families Against State Terrorism (FAST) chairperson, who said she wasn't surprised at the verdict because the jurors had been at a disadvantage as they were unable to hear testimony from any of the policemen who had been in the house at Braeton, or those who fired.
"I'm happy that four jurors chose to prosecute, though what they heard was based strictly on second-hand information as they didn't know exactly what happened. There is precise information that had not come their way, as those that had fired and those that went in the house were not allowed to testify," she said.
She said that based on the Coroner's summing up, FAST expected that no one would have been found criminally responsible. FAST had been observing the proceedings since the inquest started in January. She said that FAST would now speak to the affected families and their lawyers to fine-tune plans for action by the human rights group.
"We will certainly pursue this, not just for Braeton, but as a struggle for justice," she said.
The Coroner in her two-week summation, told the jurors that they should not consider the decision taken by the four policemen who did not give depositions when they were summoned. She pointed out that their decision not to give depositions should not be viewed as a sign of guilt.
The inquest was held to determine under what circumstances Christopher Grant, Tamayo Wilson, Andre Virgo, Dane Whyte, Lancebert Clarke, Curtis Smith and Regan Beckford were shot dead during a police operation at 1088 Fifth Seal Way, Braeton Phase 3 on March 14, 2001.
Although the jurors returned a six-to-four verdict that no one was criminally responsible for the deaths of the seven young men, the Director of Public Prosecutions has the authority to review the depositions to see if anyone should be charged arising from the seven deaths.
Other policemen had deponed at the inquest that they went to Fifth Seal Way to apprehend Christopher Grant, who was a suspect in the March 1, 2001 fatal shootings at the Above Rocks Police Station, St. Mary, of a policeman and a civilian. During that incident, a lone gunman, alleged to have been Grant, killed retired Customs officer Dennis Betton and Constable Dwight Gibson, 39, and wounded a woman. The killer took Gibson's service revolver.
The police claimed that when they went to Braeton to arrest Grant, the occupants of the house fired shots at them. The police fired back, killing the seven young men. The pre-dawn operation ended about 5.30 a.m., the police said.
However, some residents have disputed the police claims of a shoot-out, saying they heard some of the young men begging for their lives and that the police murdered them. A few even claim that the last youth was killed after 7 a.m.
Three of the seven young men were later linked to the March 13, 2001 murder of Keith Morris, principal of Hartland's All-Age School south-west St. Catherine, who was shot dead during a robbery at a Braeton bar. Morris and other men had been playing dominoes when he was killed.
